Bonds of the Past
by blazeboltthunder
Summary: Any one in the mood for OC? Comedy! Action! Romance! Team CFVY! Ozpin's mug! Chapter's daily. Follow or favorite to show that I should continue.
1. Prolog

**Hey there reader, thanks for taking a look at this fanfiction I really appreciate it, if you want to see more of team ARNC adventures please favorite or leave a comment about what I should do next I would greatly appreciate it. A bit of a warning though, I lack a beta reader and am working off of google drive so there may be spelling or grammar errors. Also, I may have chapters done before I upload this first one so I might not implement any feedback you have for a few chapters. Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy.**

The clouds were dense in the sky that day and there was no sunlight to be seen for miles. Rain was on the forecast and it was a Monday. This was appropriate considering it was the first day of school at beacon academy. Well, appropriate for the first day of school in general, but this wasn't just any ordinary school, this was where children walked through the doors and exited trained warriors. This place created heroes. Some had waited their whole life for this. To them, this was way more exciting than the weather would suggest. Every first year student walking off of the airships that day was ready and bursting with excitement. They thought they could handle anything thrown at them and of course they couldn't have been any more wrong.

Well, most of them were wrong at least. After all, if you came to a school to learn then you must still have something to gain. And that was what this year's students would soon realize. They would figure out sooner rather than later that this was no game and that their fantasies weren't going to become reality. This was after all, the job they had signed up for.

One student however, didn't sign up for this. She wasn't ready, she wasn't excited, she wasn't prepared. She was forced into this, the gloomy feeling of the day suited her mood precisely. Crystal Zinca was her name. Her mother and father both attended this academy years ago and they both chose this line of work. They had told her that she was going to become a huntress, whether she liked it or not. Even though she hated fighting, was timid and shy and made friends very rarely she was sent to this school, rather than a normal one.

As the rain began to drizzle outside of the airship she couldn't help but feel cold and abandoned. Even the weapon on her back felt alien to her. She looked around her and saw the people near her, there was a man with a massive bronze sword and another who appeared to be blind. A joyful looking fanus girl with a camera was taking pictures of everything around her like a giddy little schoolgirl. Towards the front of the craft a guy wielding a sharp looking shield peered out of the window at the academy.

This guy looked like he knew what he was doing, he carried himself with some sense of purpose. He had worn things you wouldn't expect in battle, a red and black jacket, red jeans and a t-shirt with a flame insignia identical to the one on his shield. He also had glasses, so his sight must have not been the greatest, yet here he was despite that impediment. Before not to long Crystal realized she was staring and not to long after that the boy turned his head to reveal red eyes and black hair hidden under his fur lined hood. She quickly looked away out the window.

As she turned Crystal noticed that her back felt lighter, she reached back and felt the absence of her weapon.

"Awe man…" a female voice said. Crystal turned herself around to see a disheartened girl looking at her weapon. She had no idea what this girl thought was so special about her great sword Howlite but she had no intention of letting her examine it further.

"Um… can I have that back please?" she asked, trying to avoid confrontation. The girl looked up at her just realizing that she was even there to begin with and sheathed the sword..

"Oh, yeah, sorry I was just taking a peak. It looked like your sword was much longer than it actually was," the green eyed girl explained. The way she said it almost made it sound completely normal to steal someone's weapon just to have a look at it. Crystal took her weapon, now sheathed, and draped it back over her shoulder. She moved away from where she was and sat down closer to the red and black clad boy. This caused him to glance at her briefly before opening his locket that hung securely around his neck.

The girl she had just avoided sat next to her, Crystal sighed and just stared out the other window at the grey sky. She was careful not to make eye contact with the girl next to her. The girl next to her however, was constantly smiling and looking in her direction, trying to be as friendly as possible.

"Hi, my names Rachelle, it's nice to meet you" she smiled. Crystal was reluctant at first to take her hand but soon she found that it was no use to avoid her and she took her hand anyway. Immediately her heart rate doubled and she began to get incredibly nervous from the human contact. She gulped then mentally prepared her sentences so she wouldn't mess up.

"M-my names Crystal" she said shakily. The girl immediately bombarded her with questions.

"So… What does your weapon turn into? An assault rifle? A shotgun? Or… Oooh, maybe a _sniper rifle!_ " she sang the last sentence then waited patiently for a response.

"It... just turns into a bigger sword…" Crystal said, hoping she didn't ruin the girls expectations. Little did Crystal know this girl was to crazy about weapons to even have expectations.

The girl looked over at Crystal's shoulder then pondered for a moment at Howlite.

"I guess I see how it works, isn't it heavy? You must be really, really strong to swing that when its bigger!" the girl said feeling up her arm. Crystal didn't like how this girl wouldn't just leave her alone. She didn't even want to be here! How come everyone was so concerned with her? She just wanted to be alone at her house talking to what few friends she had.

"Hey, Ray, leave her alone she's obviously missing home," a voice said from over Crystals left shoulder. She looked up and saw the face of the boy with the shield and glasses. She actually smiled at him. He seemed to not be surprised that Rachelle was acting this way and immediately decided to intervene. Crystal was surprised he even picked up on her homesickness. Was it that obvious? She didn't care actually, she was more delighted by the fact someone had tried to ease her pain.

The boy sat down next to her, "I had to deal with her earlier, she's lucky I didn't cut her hand off for trying to take my weapon when I wasn't looking." Crystal giggled, finding the whole situation suddenly amusing. It must have been the way he said it and the expression Ray had on her face when he said it. He was totally calling her out right now and Rachelle looked like she had just rolled her face in red blush and left her jaw open for air.

"I-I apologized! Didn't I Ashton?" she asked looking kind of embarrassed that he had pointed out her noisey habit. He smiled.

"Yeah, yeah… You did. After I told you how invasive it was and how the next time you did that to someone you would be lucky if you didn't lose a limb and here you go again!"

"Crystal please forgive me! I can't help it!" Rachelle pleaded. Crystal couldn't help but smile at the expressions of the two people next to her.

"It's fine really," she turned to Ashton, "thanks, for making me feel better."

He shrugged, "I didn't do anything. Well, except keep a kleptomaniac from getting her hand on another dangerous weapon," he muttered. Crystal laughed again at Rachelle and the green eyed girl left to avoid further embarrassment.

Ashton got up and walked back towards the front of the ship where he was solitary staring out at the horizon just a few moments prior. He seemed to enjoy the sight of beacon, in fact it was almost like his face seemed to glow. Actually, to be more precise, it looked like light was shining on him, it even refracted off of his glasses and shined in Crystals eyes. She stood up to avoid the glare and noticed that Rachelle had already found someone else's weapon to gawk at. A girl with a beret looked annoyed that she had taken her pocketbook without asking and was looking at her lifelessly through her sunglasses whilst scolding her.

Crystal moved towards Ashton and was blinded by the sunlight, yet again, that had poked it way through the clouds. The rain had stopped without her noticing and she realized the light that shining off of Ashton had been the sun. Looking at him and the yellow light of the sun she couldn't hold on to that cold feeling any longer. A small smile formed on her lips.

 _Maybe it won't be so bad here after all..._


	2. Chapter 1 Pre-Test Gitters

**I realize now that the last chapter was really, really, really short. Sorry about that, also kind of bland… Again sorry. So, I'm making that one the prolog and this will be the first chapter, I hope it turns out better, longer and more action packed. As always enjoy.**

The night passed by slowly. The stars inched their way across the sky at a snail's pace. Yesterday, after the orientation the soon to be students of beacon were sent to the ballroom. With both the excitement and the dread of tomorrow's exam looming over their heads, very few could sleep soundly. Some couldn't sleep at all...

The ballroom was big and jam packed with new students, many were tossing and turning in their sleeping bags from all the anticipation. Some people were awake, just staring at the ceiling hoping sleep would take them to dreamland as soon as possible. There were other students who were listening to music to try and calm their nerves and others who spent the night tinkering with their weapons. Crystal was one of the students who couldn't sleep that night, she felt cramped in her blue and grey sleeping bag and all she wanted to do was get up and move around. Particularly she wanted to move away from this academy, but after seeing the people here and how much they wanted to serve the people of the world she couldn't bear to leave without giving this place a shot. Instead she just made due with moving in her sleeping bag. She rolled over to the left and saw all across the room.

Across the room she could see the moonlit figure of Rachelle working on her weapon in the moonlight. She looked like a totally different person, she was wearing pajamas and held her weapon with such admiration that you could see it from where Crystal was sitting. The more she tinkered around inside the large silver and green wrench the more she seemed satisfied. It was like she wouldnt be happier doing anything else, which was probably right...

Crystal left her to her tinkering and rolled the other way, she saw that the sleeping bag where Ashton was lying a few moments ago was now empty. She looked around and saw a door slightly open towards the central courtyard. She rose slowly, careful not to let Rachelle notice her, she didn't want that crazy girl to wake the whole ballroom…

Crystal moved towards the door, stepping over people as she did. A couple people were awake and acknowledged her presence with a little wave or nod then let her continue on her way. She felt cold in her pajamas, the fabric was thin and soft but provided little warmth outside of her sleeping bag. She rubbed her arms over the fabric to try and warm them and then slipped her hands under her pajama shirt to attempt to keep them warm. She shivered as her body tried desperately to adjust to the sudden change in temperature.

Crystal reached for the door, careful not to be too noisy as she pushed it open. After she had closed it she found herself in an empty hallway. There were a few windows towards the top of the wall that let some of the light from the moon shine in, giving her an almost blinding amount of white light to move around in.

She walked through the hallway and found herself outside on a terrace. There were a few shrubs towards the side facing beacon tower and a running fountain the reached down into the courtyard like a waterfall. The moon made the terrace appeared pale, like it was covered in snow.

 _Ha! Heyah!_

The sound of metal on metal suddenly became apparent the closer she got to the railing, as well as the battle cries that had come from the yard. She stopped looking around the terrace and instead looked down into the courtyard. To her surprise she didn't see much, despite the noises she had heard. There were a few lamps that lit the central walkway and two spotlights lit up the statue honoring the lives lost in last war. The fountain in the center was also lit. But these were the only lights in the courtyard, yet a light was coming from towards the darkness. Black, red, green and brown dashed around the battlefield as two figures matched each other's strikes with a parry or a dodge. She noticed that one of the people in this fight was Ashton, his body seemed to be emitting large blasts of fire as he moved. His arms covered with fire they ignited with speed driving home as punches towards his enemy.

His shield bounced off of his opponents two swords and he was pushed backwards. He decided to go along with the momentum and dash backwards, his fire emitting a roaring, beastly, powerful gushing noise. He continued backwards, embers falling from every part of his body, his opponent was fast despite the fact his semblance gained him no speed advantage. He moved with incredible speed in another more intricate way, he fired rounds from his two revolvers and every bullet soared through the air to hit where Ashton's weak spots where. However, Ashton was fast and skilled with his shield.

The tip of the shield made contact with every bullet that was heading towards it's wielder. It was almost like it had a mind of its own, fire gushed from underneath it and pushed it towards the oncoming projectiles. It augmented Ashtons course and pushed him back towards the wall of the building. His feet made contact with the wall and he pushed off of it accelerating with his fiery semblance straight at his opponent. The figure stepped into the the light and his appearance was made visible.

The person in the shadows was obviously male and was slightly taller than Ashton. His narrow brimmed hat almost had a bronze tint to it. His coat was buttoned sideways starting from the bottom right and working its way up to the top left held in place by bronze colored buttons. He wore a red bandana over his mouth. He looked fierce and Crystal worried for her friends safety in the presence of someone like this.

But, Ashton gave it his all, he dashed 4 times, each burst causing a small sonic boom, his whole body had turned into a living rocket, the shield was breaking the air and causing a large crescent shaped gashes in the wind. The opponent fired first a few bullets, then the speed almost doubled, then tripled in the span of a few seconds. Soon his arms were moving at such a fast paced the onlookers couldn't see him reload at all, although he must have. Ashton burst towards the figure with the red bandana, his shield morphed, the sides of it folded under and a large sword blade shot from the center of the kite shield. He raised his arm backwards and readied a mach speed slice. The opponent's weapon shifted also, two large blades extended out of the bayonet on the bottom of the pistol. They then flicked downwards and turned into two rune encrusted short swords.

Ashton sliced at his foe, the foe fired two shots to the side and moved out of the way of his attack. The figure in green spun around and held his weapons like ballistic knives. Ashton turned his head and began to slow, the figure fired his swords out of the bottom of his pistols grip. Then the figure ditched his two pistols and grabbed the swords mid air. The force of the movement pushed him towards Ashton at a speed that Ash wasn't expecting. He wasn't fast enough to react, the foe sliced downwards and then used his other sword to reach under and jab Ashton. The two landed opposite of each other, both breathing hard, the figure with the bandana pulled down his red cloth mask and revealed his face.

"Have you been watching long?" a voice asked. Crystal jumped slightly. She turned around and noticed for the first time a man standing next to her. The man had grey hair, glasses and a green suit. The aroma of coffee hit her nose the moment she noticed him carrying a mug. Even the idea of coffee was enough to warm her. She thought she had seen this person already but she couldn't remember from where.

"I didn't mean to startle you, I have been watching the fight since they started and only now noticed you standing there," the man said, his face genuine. He had this all knowing feeling, yet despite that he was watching these two settle their differences. It seemed odd that someone with such a smart attitude would watch something a simple as a fight between two boys.

"Are you by chance a professor at this school?" Crystal asked, "you seem too old to be a student."

He turned to her and couldn't help but smile, he also let out a light laugh, "oh no, I'm not a student. I'm the headmaster of this academy. It may come as a surprise but I recognize you Crystal. You look just like your mother when she came her oh so many years ago."

She seemed depressed at the mention of her mother however Ozpin had resumed watching them so he didn't notice. The two were pushing each other's blades against one another trying to see who had more raw strength.

"You know, they aren't mad at eachother," he said simply before taking a sip out of his coffee.

Crystal looked up at him but he never made eye contact, "how can you tell?"

"I've been doing this job a long time, while I may spend my time doing paperwork or short speeches I do take the majority of my time to walk the grounds and see some of the sparring matches. A fight is never fought for a set reason, most of the time it's more than one reason and sometimes it's for no reason at all. Tell me, why do you think they are fighting if not out of anger?"

Crystal looked at the two of them, they both had intense eyes and both of them were covered with sweat. Their clothes took the brunt of the hit, Ashton looked like his had been charred like a burnt steak and the other figure looked like his had been scratched by an incredibly angry cat. They looked tired, they looked exhausted, but most of all they looked excited. They both wore small smiles.

"This is not a battle to test one's own skill, this isn't a battle to see who is more clever or superior in brawn. This is simply a battle for those who admire the art of fighting."

Crystal had noticed it, the two of them looked happy. Despite the fact they were fighting they seemed to enjoy it. For someone who didn't like to fight it was an odd notion, she never thought you could fight for any other reason than to hurt someone else but obviously they weren't fighting for that reason.

"Ashton looks like he's having fun," Crystal commented, slightly surprised. Ozpin nodded.

"That boy there he's up against has great promise, despite Ashton's obvious advantage in mobility Nickelas is holding his own," Ozpin elaborated

"Nickelas huh… he's tough," Crystal mumbled.

"Indeed, he's not one to give up easily."

"That it?" Ashton asked.

"Not hardly!" Nickelas yelled. Nick back flipped towards his weapons that lay on the ground. His hand grabbed the pistols and as he flipped for the last time they formed back into 1 set of weapons. He spun the cylinder of the pistols and pulled the trigger, the whole magazine fired in rapid succession. The salvo hit Ashton like a wall of bricks but he dashed forwards, his sword reached up, the blade stopped right at his foes neck. He had surprised his foe! Nickalas didn't move, he was totally and completely still. The first movement came from the gunslinger, he reached down and holstered his weapon signaling the end of the fight.

"I guess I was over after all," Nickel replied looking slightly defeated.

"Rematch?" Ashton asked.

"For sure," the gunslinger smiled.

Ozpin looked down over at Crystal, she still wore that distressed look. He thought he knew what was causing it and as her future headmaster he thought it was important to offer his assistance. He took a sip of coffee and looked up at the shattered moon.

"Something is troubling you…"

Crystal nodded, the professor didn't look her way but somehow he had heard her answer.

"I see, it wouldn't have anything to do with your parents would it?" he asked, hitting the nail right on the head one simple sentence. Crystal looked over at him genuinely surprised he figured it out so easily.

"How did you know?"

He took another sip from his mug then spoke, "I told you before I knew your mother. She is a very strong willed individual or at least she was back when she attended beacon. Yet, that strong will only helps her half the time and something tells me that her overbearing attitude hasn't helped raise you. My guess is she wanted to do what she thought was best for you and it turned out she was just trying too hard."

Crystal nodded, a tear escaped her eye, "I never really wanted to be a huntress or to do any fighting at all but even when I heard my parents tell me what they were going to make me do I never even hesitated to agree. I guess they always dictated my whole life for me, from my clothes and hair to my occupation they controlled me… And I never fought back… Not once. Does that make me weak?"

"No child is weak because they listen to their parents."

"But… I should at least try to rebel isn't it normal to not just accept things the way they are?"

Ashton and Nickel clashed in the background, their sword blades making rapid contact as the two tangoed in it air. Ozpin took in a deep sigh and then looked back at the two fighting. The skirmish reminded him of a sparing match from long ago.

"So the root of the problem is this school?" he asked to confirm.

Crystal just nodded slowly, trying not to be rude.

" Then I understand your problem, I know you don't want to be here or even attend this school but consider this. If you look at this moment like an intersection you have three paths to take. Firstly, you could simply accept the fact your parents sent you to this academy and put you through combat schooling and simply go on with life here. You would then become a huntress and by that time you would be accustomed to a life like that. You could also do the complete opposite, fail your entrance exam and go home to deal with your parents wrath but make the first step towards independence. From there you could enact your dreams."

"What would be the other option?" she asked.

"Look at this situation like the duel that is taking place before us," Crystal looked down at the two combatants that grappled in the courtyard.

"You may not want to fight but you have complete freedom over the moves you make and freedom my young friend is something I wouldn't take lightly. So despite being forced into this situation you still have more freedom here than you would at home, you can be yourself here while at beacon even if that self isn't a huntress. The path you take after this academy doesn't have to be the one of a huntress."

Crystal looked back, she remembered how things went on the airship when Ashton and Rachelle were there to cheer her up. She didn't have many friends and the ones she did have didn't have this much life to them, they were content with doing simple things like being a banker or a shop keeper. Crystal thought she wanted that but now she didn't know, did she dislike the idea of being a huntress because her parents forced it on her or did she just not understand what it meant to be a huntress yet.

"Well, it's very late… I best be going," Ozpin said preparing to leave.

"It was nice talking with you sir," Crystal said honestly.

He looked back at her one last time, "I only hope your stay will be longer than you intended Miss. Zinca. Goodnight."

Ozpin walked off, using his engraved walking cane for balance. Before not too long Ashton and Nickelas's fighting had overtaken the sound of Ozpin's footsteps. She looked down at the two duelists again. Ashton dashed at Nickel but Nickelas held his weapon a way that Ashton didn't notice. It was a very underhanded move that would no doubt cause him to lose the match. Crystal panicked, in the heat of the moment she forgot this match wasn't real.

"Ashton watch out!" she yelled, surprised the shield wielder looked over at her as did Nickelas. The gunslingers sword sliced downwards, a large crescent slice flew by Ashton and soared across the courtyard. It eventually hit a tree and spit it down the middle causing a loud crash. The two of them looked at her with surprise. Ashton's face was more of a "she's been watching us this whole time?" face while Nickelas was wearing a more "who watches two people sparring?" face.

As soon as Nickelas saw another person he decided to book it,"We um… best call it a night Ash, I'll see you in initiation," Nickelas said. He seemed off put by Crystal's presence, it was like when someone shows you something gross while your eating and you lose your appetite. So, without an appetite for fighting Nick ran off the back way towards the front of the school.

Ashton didn't speak at first, he waved to Nickelas as he walked off but his gaze never left Crystal. He walked up the stairs that led down into the courtyard and approached Crystal.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't want to interrupt but it looked like that slice was going to hurt a lot and I forgot it was just practice," her face was genuine. The shield wielder sighed.

"It probably would have, don't worry too much about it. Nick just doesn't get used to people quickly, he only opens up around people he knows, it's not you it's him."

Crystal nodded, she understood what he meant or at least she thought she did.

"Why are you up?" he asked, "I'm surprised anyone is up this late."

"Well, you're up late…" Crystal muttered. He shrugged.

"Guilty as charged…" he said with a smile,"you still didn't answer my question though."

This time she was the guilty one, she looked towards the wall hoping he would accept the fact she didn't want to answer but she could feel his eyes looking at her. He wanted an answer so she would have to give him one.

"I… didn't want to be here, I wanted to live a normal life. My parents were both warriors, they fought to keep the world safe. But, I've never liked fighting, I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just don't think I can do it."

Ashton nodded, "walk with me," he instructed. She looked at him like he was crazy.

"It's better for talking," he explained, as if that made any sense. He walked behind her and pushed her back until she walked on her own. He was persistent but the more she walked down beacon road the more she liked it.

"Better right?"

She grumbled, "I guess…"

"Want to know why I chose to be a huntsman?" he asked. Why not? She was out in the middle of nowhere with a guy she just met, so why not just hear Ashton's whole life story. It wasn't like she could sleep anyway.

"Sure, why not?" as soon as she had said that she regretted everything...

 **I'm ending it here because I don't want to draw this chapter out any more than it is. I hope you enjoyed it. Hope it wasn't too boring. If you want to see more, follow because otherwise I won't feel guilty when I don't upload chapters. Stay tuned for more.**


	3. Chapter 2 It Begins

**If you want to see more of this fic a simple "yes" in the review section or a follow would be awesome. Thanks and enjoy.**

"Hellllooo…" a voice echoed in Crystal's dreams. She felt frozen where she lay, she could make out something both coarse but cold and hard at the same time, almost like bone. Below her was a bed of thin, cool, bristles that seemed to move on their own as if they were being blown by a fan. It dawned on her a soon as the voice spoke again what exactly was going on.

"Common Crystal, wake up, we're gonna be late!" Ashton's voice came through much clearer than before. Suddenly it all came to her...

Last night the two of them had lapped the entire school twice. They had gone through every topic starting at how Ashton was trained by his master all the way to their ideal life before sitting down by a tree to have a drink. However, Crystal didn't remember anything else happening after that so she must have blacked out in the middle of Ashton talking. The grainy but cold object she leaned on was the tree they had set down at the night before. The bed she felt was the grass that was present around the edges of beacons gardens. When she opened her eyes she was greeted by the sight of Ashton knelt down to her level. Glasses and all.

"Whaaht hawpened?" she yawned. Ashton gestured with his hand.

"We fell asleep last night, well, obviously. I only realized we were behind schedule when I noticed all the students making their way to the cliff." Crystal listened but despite what he said she stayed in the same place, even though she probably should have stood up at that moment. She didn't. Ashton pulled out a canteen from his back pocket and took a long drink, she could tell by the aroma it was iced tea. When he was done with his large swig he sighed in relief and then spoke.

"We better go catch up to them, sorry to rush you to your feet after waking up but it's part of the job… Early rise ya know?"

She lowered herself back down against the tree. He was expecting her to get up any time now, you know, considering it was time for the test. But no, she just sat there trying not to look him in the eyes. She looked anywhere else, the bush, the tree above her and finally she looked up at the tower.

"What are you doing?"

"You…" she began to say but didn't finish, she just swallowed her sentence and looked towards the building behind him.

"You what?" he asked confused as to why she was being so distant and at a time like this.

"Go without me, I'll stay here…" she said. He let her sentence sink in for a moment, turned around, stood up and sighed. He looked directly up at the sun, his glasses refracted the light down at her and a rainbow shined on her white dress.

"I suppose you want to go home then, find the guy you've been looking for and finally free yourself from your parents control. Have a few kids and grow old with this prince charming… That right?" he wanted her to clarify if he had payed attention last night when she had explained this to him.

"That's the general idea, although you summarized…"

"And what would happen if the life you dreamed up got destroyed by the Grimm? I know I wouldn't want that guilt… the guilt that I could have done something but I didn't. I couldn't do that… But, it's your choice I guess."

He looked back at her once more, he held two fingers together and did a mini salute.

"See ya around, hope your life turns out like you wanted it to…" Ash turned and walked off. He wasn't going to put up a fight, he was going to try to do as his master taught him and respect her decision. So, he walked off towards the cliff without saying another word or having another thought.

Crystal watched him walk away down the path, he walked like that for a good 2 minutes or so, without anything happening. He didn't turn back, he didn't look back, he just walked. And when he reached the side of the building he turned and his figure disappeared behind it. When he didn't come back Crystal stood up as the battle that had been raging inside of her hit a boiling point, rapidly and violently.

"What am I doing!? What am I supposed to do in this situation!? Fight and I'll never be told I did nothing, I'll never be criticized for standing idly by. But… what if I can't do it!? What if I get hurt what if I… Well… it doesn't matter, too late now, I might as well wait for the shuttle. Damn, I was finally able to see myself doing it too…" she let out a low, barely audible laugh. It was ironic, she finally, after years of combat training that she ignored and lectures she endured, just decided that she could become a huntress now after it was too late to take the test.

She looked over at the sky port, there would be a ship by later but she would have to wait until then. It was going to be a long wait.

Ashton had been right... It wasn't even a ten minutes and she was already feeling weird for not going to take the test. There was a long road of guilt ahead of her… this was a decision that she had made the wrong choice on and she knew it.

It was too late though.

She saw a bench and walked towards it. Before too long she reached the bench and began to sit down. It was like the bench had scooped her up. There was a large wind gust and her hair whipped around to hit her in the face. She brushed it to the side and found herself elevated and surprisingly warm, Suddenly a warm breath of air breathed down on her followed by many more.

"It's not too late to change your fate," Ashton assured her. She hadn't even realized because her mind was in such a daze, but Ashton had returned somehow his clothes had the same fiery pattern that normally came when he was fighting, he had a proud smile on his face and she had somehow found her way into his arms.

"Wait how did you…?"

"Don't worry about how I got here, just hold onto your dress," he said turning around to face towards the emerald forest. Embers began to erupt from his body and clothes as he prepared his semblance.

"Actualy its a combat skir… AHHH!"

Ashton rocketed forwards at an incredible speed, his feet made contact with the ground only to push off of it, he practically flying.

" _How. Did. You. Know?"_ Crystal yelled as the two sped towards the cliff in a flurry of fire and ash.

"Did you know the guilt trip works ninety nine percent of the time?" he shouted back.

"You little-!"

"Ok, so I know you're not used to real combat so here's what's going to happen, listen closely, ok?" he asked.

"You said ok twice!"

"Shush! First we meet up in the forest, then we clear the test and finally we go get you some new clothes to replace that stupid dre- I'm mean combat skirt."

"What's wrong with my skirt?!" Ashton echoed to a stop, another gust of wind hit the two very hard. The gust was incredibly powerful and push directly at the two hopeful-students. The force of the wind was more than enough to cause Crystals skirt to fling upwards. She quickly pushed it down and held it there until the slowdown gust subsided. Ashton put her down and she stayed still holding down her skirt to make sure it wouldn't flare up again.

"Do you see why we need-"

"I understand completely…" she interrupted.

"It's a nice way to be yourself without totally defying your mother, the skirt just isn't practical..."

Another voice entered the conversation, "I actually prefer style over efficiency."

"Professor Ozpin?" Crystal asked turning around.

"Yes, tis I. I'm glad to see you convinced her to participate Mr. Ardoris," he said, his words aimed at Ashton.

"Yeah well I couldn't let her miss this opportunity…" he focused his glasses, a small smile creeping onto his face.

Crystal looked around, to her right was the cliff, over which sprawled a large and almost unending forest completely covered by green oak trees. Over her left shoulder was the school and in front of her were a set of platforms that bore the kingdoms seal. It was just now that she noticed that some had people on them and slowly more and more people were filing into their places. In the crowd she saw Rachelle and Nickelas file into line but the platforms where no where near full.. She looked to her Left and saw 3 more new students walking to take their place on the platforms.

"Didn't you say we were late?"

"I said we we're behind schedule didn't I?" he said with a "innocent" look on his face to match his smile.

"And what does he mean by 'convincing her'?" she grumbled, making a fake accent to mimic Ozpin. Ashton laughed lightly then scratched the back of his head.

"I…. _may_ have given you some relaxing tea last night to make you fall asleep by the tree… sorry," her jaw dropped at hearing this, she just stared at him in complete shock.

"I also _may_ have stretched the truth when it came to the condition of our lateness. But… that doesn't change your choice does it?"

She sighed, "no… it doesn't..." she muttered.

"It was reckless…" another voice said. Ashton and Crystal both turned around to see who this new female voice was. A woman with blonde hair, a riding crop, white suit and a black business skirt stood before them. She looked like she had an incredible anger issue.

"I can't believe you allowed him to give that poor girl some of Gol's tea, that liquid makes you more tranquil than Qrow Branwen after your last new year's eve party!" the woman shouted, her fury directed at Ozpin.

"It's not that bad Glynda, Gol Den's tea is just incredibly soothing, there is no ulterior motive behind it."

"You _know_ that tea isn't innocent! That old man is a pervert! It's for seduction!"

"Glynda you're going to make a scene!" he pleaded trying to keep the students from losing the respect they had for him.

"See it's not so abnormal for huntresses to wear skirts…" Crystal whispered to Ashton.

"Oh, so you're not changing clothes? Gonna wear the same clothes as _her_?" he whispered back, a trickle of sarcasm in his voice.

"I… never said that…"

"I think it would be best if you two took your places," Ozpin said to the pair, trying to find a way to avoid Glynda's rage. The two nodded understandingly and walked towards their jump pads. Ashton was surprised that he was the slower one to walk over as Crystal reached her pad before him, perhaps on purpose. Little did he know she didn't want to get caught in the crossfire between Ozpin and Glynda.

The last few new students were making their way towards the cliff as those two took their places. One girl with bunny ears stopped to take a picture of the forest and Ozpin before one of the girls next to her yelled for her.

"Velvet! C'mon we're almost late!" the girl with the baret yelled. The bunny eared girl shot to attention and ran towards her presumed friend.

"Coming!" she replied with an accent. The two of them both wore brown clothing but the one with the baret was radiating this power the other girl lacked. She of course had her baret, an article of clothing so powerful it could make anyone look awesome but it was the warrior bullets and metal studs that she wore all over her outfit that told you she meant business. But most importantly...

"See, no combat skirt," Ashton said pointing to the girl with the baret.

"I think that girl could pull off any outfit… regardless of skirt" Crystal muttered. She wanted to say something else to Ashton but Ozpin was starting. It seemed he had calmed Glynda down as he usually did. Ozpin went first.

"You have all been preparing for this your whole lives, but nothing will test your training like what you will go through today. As you work to complete your test you will be paired with your team."

"The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years. To the north you will find an abandoned temple that contains various relics. It is your job to find the temple and retrieve a relic for you and your partner," Glenda continued.

"The Emerald forest is home to numerous creatures of Grimm, you will encounter them and will most likely need to fight or defeat them to reach your destination. Remember however, this test isn't about who can kill the most Grimm, it's about how well you work as a team and collecting the Relic of course. That being said, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die..." He liked that last one, he said it every year to scare the new recruits. At least one person gulped somewhere in the line.

The first one to fly off of the cliff was someone wearing blue clothes. Crystal hadn't gotten to see them yet. It was as he soared off the cliff that she tired to remember what little she had learned from combat school. It's worth mentioning that Crystal's mother intimidated the headmaster of her combat school in south atlas. Her mother also had the weapon she was using now made for her without any of Crystal's input. She would have flunked if Crystal's mother hadn't convinced the headmaster to give her straight A+ grades across the board. She tried the best she could, to remember. Landing procedure…Nope... Nothing was coming up when she thought of that. There was just a blank image...

"Um… Ashton?" she asked. He looked over at her wondering what was up.

"Whats up?"

"I don't know how to land…" she whispered. Ash took a deep breath held it for a few seconds, during which time another person launched off, they were screaming. He exhaled and a few sparks went with his breath.

"I'll assist your landing, okay?" he said quietly, trying to keep things on the down low.

She smiled lightly, "thank you, for everything," another person launched off.

"Don't thank me just yet, we haven't even started…" he said with a chuckle.

Nickelas flicked up his bandanna and was launched off of the cliff followed closely by another person.

Crystal breathed in heavily for a few moments waiting as person after person launched off the cliff. Some screamed as they tumbled and some soared through the air as they were thrown. Before she knew it she was next one in line to be launched.

She began to count down mentally in her head.

Ten… _Oh no. Why am I doing this?!_

Nine… _I think this is a bad idea._

Eight… _This cannot be safe!_

Seven… _Ash… Please catch me! Please..._

Six… _Mom. If this kills me, I blame you._

Five… _I think I miscounted..._

Four. _Boom!_ She flew off with incredible speed and was flung into the air just like the others had been, wind flooded her nose as the air forced its way to her lungs. She knew that people always said "don't look down" in times like this but she couldn't help it, she was thrown in such a way that she eventually was forced to look down as she rotated through the sky. Crystal was relieved at first to see she was still going upwards but before not too long that changed. She began to slowly fall at first and then quickly plummeted.

Ashton watched as his blonde haired friend fell from the sky, his pad clicked and he flew forwards, he immediately used his semblance to steer towards his falling comrade. He looked back and watched as the last of the students flew off the edge of the cliff. He was now sure that the words his master had said about this test had to be true, "this will be a test like no other." After all, what high school student gets thrown off of a cliff for their first assignment?

Ozpin looked out over the Emerald forest, some of the children that had just leaped off of beacon cliff had begun their journey to become warriors fighting for good. Others wouldn't make it to the temple and would return to their families ashamed that those years of intense combat training where for nothing.

Ozpin was more interested in the ones who would make it back and become his newest recruits. This was always a moment he cherished. Not because it was fun to launch undergraduates off of a cliff, which it was. It was cherished by him because it meant that he would have continued to reinforce the older generations of huntsman and huntresses. He would take in these children and reshape them into hardened warriors to fight the creatures of Grimm and keep the world safe. He saw those tumbling and soaring children as a beacon of hope in an uncertain world.

"It never get's old, does it Glynda?" he asked.

She cracked a small smile, "I don't know what your talking about sir."

"Now it begins…"

 **I wrote all the meat of this chapter in one sitting, I hope they are getting better and not worse. I also thought it would be interesting to include more dialogue, and despite the fact that it had a lot of extra spacing it isn't as bad of a word count as I was afraid of. Again, if you like, show me. If a single person messaged me I would work much harder. I should also say this, if you have an OC team that you want to include to have fight along side team ARNC and team CFVY then send me a message and I will see if I include them or not depends on who messages first. Anyway, see ya.**


	4. Chapter 3 A Real Huntsman

"Ashton!" Crystal yelled. Her hair flew through the breeze forced upwards by the air current. Ash knew he had to move quickly if he was going to help her out of this rather life threatening situation. He dashed quickly between trees making full use of his semblance. He kept his gaze up at Crystal as he swiftly jumped from tree to tree like a chimp, he only looked forwards to see where he was going for a brief second before looking back up. He just let his instincts guide him, just like master had said.

 _Feel the flow of the world Ashton… And ride it like a tidal wave!_

Fire ignited and his red a black form accelerated faster and faster through the trees. He saw the perfect opportunity to catch Crystal and he took the chance. He pushed hard off of the nearest tree and glided through the air towards Crystals trajectory. It would be pointless for him to jump to grab her if he was only thinking about where she was when he jumped not how much she would fall when he reached her. Another tree presented itself and he jumped off of it pushing sideways into another tree. He put his right hand against the tree and pointed his whole other arm backwards behind him, then he fired a blast out of his hand and slid around the tree. In front of him was the opportunity he had seen, a tree with a V shape at the top of it lined up perfectly with Crystal's tumbling form.

Ashton pushed hard off the side of the tree he was on and soared to the V shaped tree. He tucked his arms inwardly and moved quickly through the V shape. As he exited he slammed his palms against the tree and fired two blasts of aura that rocketed him straight for Crystal. The gap between them closed fast. A gust of wind was all Crystal felt before Ashton had swept underneath her.

"I got ya" he said confidently. She took a sigh of relief when then floated upwards. He felt her relax now that she knew she was safe.

She had admittedly had doubts if he would reach her in time but said "I knew you could do it," anyway to make him feel better. He didn't seem very affected by her words. Actually, he was looking straight at their path and with an almost fearful look. He pushed upwards with his semblance to stabilize them.

"I'm sorry for this…"

She gulped. A green cannon round was headed straight for the two of them at a rapid pace. Ash thought fast and quickly threw Crystal upwards with all of his might. She rolled around in the air as she rose and faced straight down at Ashton. He tried to quickly pull up his shield but with or without it the blast was gonna hurt. Crystal's eyes widened as the shell hit him with full force.

Ashton jetted backwards into an oak tree, smoke coming off of his shield. When he landed his feet made contact with the oak and pushed off with full force. He was winded as he moved back upwards, he took deep breaths to try and replenish his air after tanking the cannon shot. He caught Crystal with much less grace this time around and she had to move around so that he could hold her easier. It was always a challenge to stay airborne with his semblance, but while holding another person and her 70 pound weapon it was beyond exhausting.

He spoke with panting breaths, "I guess they didn't like- oh no…"

Crystal looked where Ashton's eyes looked. Through his now dusty glasses he could distinctly see 3 missiles coming straight for them. He thought that the headmasters wouldn't approve of helping others with their landings but he didn't know this would be a penalty.

"Cris… I need you to land on your own."

She spoke as the missiles got closer, "I don't think I have a choice."

"Just, stab a tree with your sword as you fall. Hold on with all your strength and try to land on your feet. If you use your sword for your landing it will shave some of the speed off," he explained through gasping breaths.

"Will you be alright?" she asked beginning to get concerned.

"Don't worry about me, I have my Requiem with me…" he muttered.

"Is that your shield?" she asked, hitting the nail on the head. He nodded, after he rolled the shield over she noticed that there was an engraved metal plate that read, _Guards Requiem. For those lost and those who have lost love…_ Crystal didn't realize that when he rolled it over Ash had intended her to stand on it. But after a moment of him holding it she quickly moved onto the shield.

"Crouch" he instructed. She nodded getting down into a jumping stance, prepared to launch.

"Put your hand on your swords handle," he said getting ready to throw her. The missiles were becoming visible rather than just puffs of smoke. Ashton knew he had to do it now. He swung the weapon with incredible speed, Crystal pushed off the shield and soared towards the northeast section of the forest.

Ash waited for the missiles to come, hovering easier than before now that his passenger had departed and along with her that awfully heavy weapon she called Howlite. When the missiles reached him he dashed to the side making use of his lesser weight. He planned to follow after Crystal but the missiles detonated behind him. Taking him off balance and sending him tumbling downwards. He hit a dense packet of branches, Ashton's shoulder hit the side of a large outlying log and he began spinning just in time to hit 4 layers of branches. Each one bent and retracted when he hit them both slowing his fall and prolonging it at the same time.

A large branch about the size of the first log he hit appeared through the leaves, he back flipped to avoid it while inadvertently putting a lot of extra unneeded force onto his legs. He hit the forest floor with a force and collapsed onto his arm. He took a moment to take a breath in, then rose and dusted himself off. If it wasn't for his long clothing, shield or Aura he would have been covered in scratches but aside from the rough impact of the ground he was undamaged. It was a rough start to the test and he needed a moment to collect himself before continuing. He felt like he could use some tea.

Time for some of master Gol's blend. He pulled out the bronze and steel canteen his sister had made for him and took a large amount of his master's tea. He thought back to when his master first took him under his wing. He was persistent about taking a break before the real training began. He told Ashton he needed to find "the moment when the breath of life is the greatest" and take that time to restore his aura. That day was where his journey as a huntsman first began.

Ashton looked back and saw that day as clear as if it was yesterday. Master Gol Den agreed to let him train with him, but first they had to hike a nearby mountain. Not only that but master Gol made sure that Ashton carried all the supplies they needed to add to the difficulty. It was supposed to take an hour to go up and down, but because Ashton was carrying the supplies he slowed the trip to a crawl. However, Master Gol never complained about his slowness, he just took the opportunities he could to look around. Due to the intense lifting Ashton was doing he couldn't come up with the strength to turn around to see what the old man was looking at.

After the long day of hiking they reached the top of the mountain at night time. Ash collapsed to a halt and Gol Den congratulated him for his effort.

 _I'm glad it turned out like this, you took about as long as I had expected. Considering you were carrying almost twice your own body weight. Well, time to relax._

In the end it turned out that when Ash looked behind him he realized what he had been turning his back to and why Gol Den had seemed so interested in his surroundings. They had arrived at the top of Mount Oro, home of Master Gol Den himself. On top of mount Oro was this blue and silver plant that looked like a little leaf growing out of the ground. As soon as they reached the top of the mountain Ashton's new master instructed him to go over to the plant and pick 40 leaves so that they could have some relaxing tea.

Ashton snapped back to reality, he twisted the lid on his canteen "the two faced huntsman… a tea leaf that changes color depending on the moon and sun…" he mumbled to himself.

"It fills you with energy during the day and lets you rest at night…" a voice said, appearing from nowhere. Ashton turned around to see another one of the contestants. He had a short flattop haircut with blue eyes, one of them had an X shaped scar over it causing the iris to turn cyan. The student wore grey shorts and a navy t-shirt. For accessories he wore a scarf around his neck that was striped in dim blue and grey and a weapon holster on his side that held a sword of some sort.

"You've heard of the tea?" Ashton asked.

"I've heard stories, assorted rumors about a perverted old man in his eighties living like a teenager thanks to a simple little herb that goes by the name; two faced huntsman," the student continued.

Ashton laughed, "you know most people say my master is perverse but really he's just not afraid to tell the opposite gender how he feels about them, no matter how bold it may sound…"

"Don't get me wrong. He's sincere, I can respect that in a person, as can I respect his reputation."

The blue clad individual extended his hand, "my name is Necro Areos."

Ashton accepted his handshake, "Ashton Ardoris."

"So I guess this makes us partners for the next four years," Ashton said as he began to wipe off his glasses. Necro nodded calmly.

"I suppose it does…"

Ashton extended his canteen to his new ally, "iced tea?" he asked. Necro shook his head. He must have not been a tea person.

"Suit yourself, you'll be asking for it after we reach the temple," Ashton warned him, "I think I saw it while I-"

"Was assisting that blonde ditz..." Necro muttered. Ashton looked at him quizzically, his tone made it sound like he was familiar with Crysta although not in a good wayl. The words he spoke told of history, something Ashton had learned to listen for thanks to his master.

"You know Crystal?" Ashton asked.

"The girl with the overpowering mother who forced her to go to beacon with transcripts she blackmailed out of the headmaster of her previous academy. It's shady stuff, I'm surprised someone like you is acquainted with such a person."

"Just because she isn't good at fighting doesn't mean she's incapable of learning," Ashton said in her defense.

"It does if the person in question doesn't want anything to do with it," Necro muttered. Ashton shrugged and began moving forwards.

"We shouldn't waste time talking, we have ground to cover…" the shielded warrior walked forwards using the Requiem to protect himself from branches around him. His friend unsheathed his sword and began to slice off the branches that Ashton had previously blocked.

Ashton glanced back at his new friend who was keeping up well, "So Necro, why did you want to be a Huntsman, I'm sure you're not in the same situation as Crystal."

Necro's eyes were focused when he spoke, "Too much of this world is corrupt, both Grimm and humans alike, I plan to change that, a huntsman seeks out the evil in this world and destroys it so that the goodness in the world can flourish."

"What about you Ashton? What makes you think you've got what it takes," the blue swordsman asked.

"I don't know many other people who can fly. Its an incredible feeling, to be standing on nothing without anything to hold you up but yourself. I could keep it to myself and fly around to my heart's content or I could use my flight, however limited, to keep people safe and help the world."

"You want to be a huntsman because you can fly?" Necro said, sounding offended.

"No… I-" he was silent for a moment, "I mainly just tell that to people as an excuse, I have my reasons ok, there is bad history there that I would rather not bring up."

Necro nodded, "I understand, I trust that you have your reasons, no need to add to it."

Ash smiled, "thanks, that means a lot."

Suddenly, out of nowhere Necro drew his blade and threw it too his side. The blade opened mid air and folded into a twin bladed throwing axe. The weapon made a whirling sound as it flew threw the air and then a fleshy sound when it hit whatever his target had been. Ashton followed the weapons path and as soon as he saw what it had hit he flicked his wrist downwards and let his blade extend. Ashton readied himself for a fight. Necros weapon returned to him in spinning glory.

Grimm. Two beowolf and one ursa stood close to a few trees. The blue and red pair ran towards them in sync. The Grimm charged them, one of the beowolf's leaped towards Ashton as the other followed behind closely. The ursa move slowly lumbering towards the group as a whole. Ashton dashed back with his semblance causing the Grimm to miss and jump him a second time. Necro took his twin axe and spit it into two separate axes. When the Grimm in front of him began to slice downwards Necro took his axes and dug into the monster's wrists. He used the leverage to lift himself up to get on the Grimm's shoulders. The beast struggled to get Necro off but he held tightly even when he was forced against a tree buy the creature. At that point he jumped of its shoulders, rolled mid air and sliced clean through its head.

Ashton waited for the beowolf to get close to the ursa, it lunged again for a third time, Ashton took his sword accelerated it into the creature's neck killing it instantly. He pushed off of its lifeless corpse and jumped towards the Ursa. He raised his sword and rammed the blade into the creatures stomached. It flinched back but didn't give up. The creature's claws came down quickly, Ash ripped his sword from the creature's stomach and transformed it into a shield again. He pushed the shield against the ursa's slice which pushed it's claw backwards. The creature caught him off guard when it kicked him in the side with its left foot and knocked him towards Necro.

"You were moving faster earlier and more often, I'm assuming your aura is low?"

Ashton shook his head, "I feel weird, there is this burning in my stomach I'm not sure what it is."

"You should step back…" Necro said.

"You're right I should," Ashton agreed.

Even though he said that he still dashed forwards at the creature catching Necro off guard. It was ready with another swipe. Ashton slammed his shield against the beasts attack and pushed himself upwards in a spiral. His sword extended and he spun with all the might he had as his blade cleaved the creature's head off. He landed and took another large drink of his master's tea then a long deep breath. For a moment it seemed to cool the fire in his stomach. He twisted the lid.

Ashton pushed on, "I'm not done yet."

"Your ill but you still keep going?"

Ashton laughed weakly, "Of course, that's what a real huntsman would do…"

Necro chucked, "sure, a real huntsman."

The two of them kept walking through the forest. A large fallen branch was in Ash's way, for some odd reason he felt angry at it and punched it full force with his semblance. The branch flew forwards and took out a few widow makers before it landed a yard or so away. Necro must have assumed that Ash was normally like this and appeared unphased by his sudden shift in behavior. However Ashton knew there was something wrong with him as the burning in his stomach came back, bringing more anger with it. He held it in the best he could and pushed through three small bushes.

Ashton ducked under a thick branch and noticed a large clearing ahead of them. In the large clearing was a massive pack of beowolf's and a ruined temple. It had to be the one that Ozpin had mentioned. When Ash saw the opportunity for he release he knew he had to take it or his rage would get worse.

"Screw holding back… In the words of my master: I shall withhold no strength from my foe!" Ashton shouted and jumped off the side of the cliff.

"I think that tea must have gotten to his head…" Necro muttered, laughing to himself. He walked up to a tree next to the cliff that overlooked the ruins and leaned over on it as he watched this unfold.

"Listen up monsters! I'm going to kill you all!" Ashton growled. The Grimm sensed Ashtons overwhelming rage that came from seemingly nowhere. His emotions called them in towards him like a beacon. Ashton was ready for them, no matter how many came he wanted to fight every last one of them.

The first Grimm ran in fast and swiped at Ashton who dodged downwards and grabbed the creature's leg pulling it back hard. The creature fell and as it did Ash brutally decapitated it mid air with the tip of his shield. By the time the last one had fallen to the ground Ashton had jumped into the sky in a fiery display of rocketry and speed. He boosted towards the next monster with furious speed and rammed his blade through a Grimm's scull upon digging his heels into the beast chest. He grit his teeth and pushed off of the beowolf's chest. His sword swiped sideways and rotated him one hundred and eighty degrees around, straight into another wolf. He raised his elbow backwards and ran the blade into the creature's chest. It was about to fight back but then Ashton pushed his sword with such ferocity that it cut clean out the creatures right side.

Another one sliced to Ashton's right, he dashed towards the creature and caught it mid swipe throwing it by the arm and slamming it into another beowolf that was preparing to pounce. He knew they were still alive before they even moved so he hopped skywards and then dashed down at the creatures driving his sword straight through their blackened hearts. He pulled his sword out with all his might, causing black oze to fly everywhere. He was far from done however, many still remained and his rage was still as bright as ever so he dashed forwards at another Grimm that was towards the back. He must have moved sixty feet in three jumps. When he finally reached the creature he used his semblance to rapidly jab the creature's lower stomach. One, two, three, four, five, six, dead.

Another three Grimm were surrounding him, they all pounced at the same time. Ashton dashed under one of them and uppercut them with his unarmed hand sending them skywards. He promptly followed the upper cut with 2 quick slashes in an X shape. He used the corpse as leverage and dashed downwards at the larger of the two beowolfs. He impaled the large one and pushed off the ground to fly upwards with the wolf struggling on his blade. He grabbed its shoulder and it roared at him. Ashton didn't care however, the memories of how these things murdered his entire family came bubbling to the surface and mixed with the rage to form a fire like no other.

Ashton sliced out the side of the Grimm and then came back in for a second slice to cut it completely in half. Ashton landed on the ground directly in front of the last Grimm. Ashton dodged but the creature hit him when he finished dodging and continued to slice him four times before he suddenly yelled and hammered the creature's claw with his shield. The creature fell backwards, parried, and Ashton gave it back every bit as hard as the creature had to him. One slash for all the pain he had caused. Two for everyone he had killed. And three because Ashton was fuming with a fury unlike any other. The large smoke had attracted the last of the pack which all charged him at once.

Ashton jumped skywards, his shield's missile bay slid open he looked down at the beasts below him and released a barrage of dust missiles down at them. But that wouldn't do, if they died this easily then it wouldn't honor those who had fought to kill these monsters. Ashton used that thought as fuel and dashed downwards towards them. He rode the small explosions to boost himself fast enough that he barely needed to dash. His blade cut through first one Grimm, than two, followed by another two in succession and finally one last large beowolf. The blade almost got stuck on its bone but after a solid crack the beast's head gave way and toppled to the floor.

A sea of smoke covered the clearing. Ashton's rage fit subsided and he felt even more sick. He had no idea what had caused that, he had only had a few drinks of tea by the time his stomach started burning. Maybe it had been the tea, or something left over in his canteen. Maybe Glynda was right after all. Maybe the tea was dangerous.

"Do you have any water?" Ash asked hoping that would fix his new emptiness.

"I'm afraid not, perhaps you should pack something other than tea next time, or just water in general. I'm starting to think you're an addict."

Ashton grumbled, "I was just asking… no need for the third degree."

"Anyway, you well enough to continue?" Necro asked his red friend.

"Yeah, I'm better now that weird burn is out of my system," he began walking forwards, "we best go get the artifact."

Before them was a large stone structure, a stairway led deep down into the heart of the temple and around the main structure were a few stone pillars. The two didn't see any other way to go down so this must have been the only way to get to the artifacts they had been searching for. Necro was first to head towards the stairs but Ashton was hesitant and let Necro go first. His hesitation turned out to be warranted when Necro tripped on a step shortly after entering.

"I must have missed that one" Necro muttered.

"What did you say?" he asked not hearing him well in the tunnel.

"Nothing, just tripped," Necro said.

The two continued downwards for a while not much of a difference as the tunnel got deeper and deeper. Darkness came quickly as the two disappeared into the labyrinth.

 **Hope you enjoyed, definitely getting better at pushing out chapters quicker than usual. I'm planning on doing another arc soon and would love some OC characters. So if you like the story and the way it's going go ahead and PM me your OC. It shows that people actually care about it! Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 4 Caffeine

Fox was born in Atlas, not Vale. His family had always been very wealthy, due to their choice in becoming huntsmen and huntresses. Over the years their family name had become quite famous in Atlas for being one of the only groups of hunters separate from the Atlesian military. They had everything they could ever need and more— that is, all except an heir to all their wealth and fame. It turned out that a majority of the men the family were sterile and could have no children as a result. That is why everyone was overjoyed when the family's youngest son, Lupus, informed his relations that his wife was pregnant. The doctor told the parents that it was a boy and the date the child was set to be born. After many years of failed attempts the family finally had someone to continue on the family line, someone that would grow up and become a warrior to lead the family as the next patriarch.

Fox became a hero to the family over the nine months they waited for his arrival. He was wealthy, respected and adored before he was even born. The news spread to every family member in the kingdom and relatives who hadn't spoken in years met for the first time two days before the baby was due. It was a great time to be in the Alistair family and spirits were high. Anticipation built as the day came and went. The baby was due at any moment.

However… the relatives were disappointed when Fox didn't arrive a whole week after he was set to enter the world. They thought nothing of it and the doctors assured the parents and relatives that nothing was out of the ordinary about a baby that was a week late. So they waited more.

Another week passed and still there was no baby. So the family asked the doctor again and he assured them that nature wasn't always accurate and that it might not be the worst outcome. Apparently people in ancient times saw late births as a sign of strength, that the longer it took for a baby to develop the more aura needed for them to become whole. This appeased the family and gave the parents a sense of relief to know that their child was fine. The head of the family, Leone, Fox's grandfather, told everyone that the child of his youngest son would be the strongest warrior this world had ever seen. With that idea in their hearts they sat and waited patiently. With each passing day they grew more excited as the thought of the baby's strength began to dawn on them.

However, the picture that the family had painted wasn't accurate, as the doctor informed the parents behind closed doors that something was wrong and if Fox didn't come soon, they would have to remove him to save the mother.

Monday came and no baby. Leone began to smile each morning the child was late. His son had to play along despite the impending doom.

Tuesday came still no baby. The family partied. The mother and father of Fox didn't attend.

Wednesday dawned. Lupus went to the doctor and asked him what could be done to save the child and the mother. The doctor sat him down and had a long talk with the father-to-be. He told Lupus that his son was a lost cause.

"Your son is at the point where he is much too far past his date, from what I can see he isn't showing any signs of life. I think we need to remove him or else your wife may be at risk."

The father broke into tears. His wife was outside at the time getting some fresh air and the thought of telling her what was to happen was eating him alive. There was also the thought of what the family would say and how disappointed everyone would be.

Nature decided that now was when Lupus was at his emotional limit and decided to drop another bombshell on him.

The baby was here.

Moments after the doctor told him the depressing news and he walked out of the room, hanging his head in shame and despair, his wife went into labor.

The nurse that had been assigned to his wife ran up to him, "Now is not the time to be looking like that! Your son is being born!" she said. Shock filled his face and slowly changed into overwhelming nurse rushed the wife into the operating room, where Lupus waited patiently for his new son to be born.

After a tender five and a half hours, Fox was born. The family was overjoyed at birth of their newest descendant, and this time, they partied like they meant it. All was good in the Alistair family.

Another week passed before the relatives returned to their homes and resumed their jobs. During this time— when they were all overjoyed at the new baby— disaster struck. Lupus's older brother died during a battle to defend his hometown. Fox's mother couldn't attend, due to being stuck in the hospital. The gloom hung over the family, worsening four days later when the second youngest son died in his sleep for no apparent reason. The family, still weary from the last funeral had to attend the interment of another one of their most valued warriors.

By this time most people had lost all excitement from Fox's birth and the sadness was all they could feel.

The bad luck was only beginning, however. On the day that Lupus and his wife were set to go home, Fox opened his eyes. This was a big, overdue moment, as eye color was used to determine the success of a baby and would no doubt give the family a little bit of comfort. At this point the doctor's realized that the baby, Fox, was blind. Everyone was devastated. Leone began to get suspicious. He began to wonder why everything was going wrong in his life. Why his children were dying out with no real reason. He concluded that the only thing that had happened that was out of the ordinary was the birth of his grandson, Fox.

But with no way to link the baby with the deaths of his two sons, he let that thought leave his mind.

Time passed, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Lupus invited his father to come stay with him, his wife, and newborn baby. Leone accepted without hesitation. He wanted to spend time with his new grandson and youngest son. His wish was to be short-lived.

On the last day of his visit, he awoke into pure darkness. For a while he thought he was asleep, but conscious. It took him a moment to realize that he couldn't see. His eyes blinked, but nothing came to him. His vision was totally gone.

It was Fox, he knew it now. He was certain that Fox Alistair was cursed! He ordered his son to have the child killed. He no longer cared about a new heir; he no longer cared that he would be powerful. Now he only saw him as a blind curse that would destroy the family if the family didn't destroy him first.

Lupus took Fox to a river to do what his father ordered. His wife couldn't object; Leone was too overpowering. She had to cry to herself, alone, as she watched her husband walk off with their child. But Lupus never truly killed his son. He never drowned him at the river, nor did he do anything to harm his son. He wrapped him in a blanket and put him in a basket. In that basket was all Fox would ever need in life: the family crest. With that he could do as he pleased and become the warrior he was meant to be.

After the baby was gone and presumed dead, the family became outraged and civil war ensued. Leone, ironically, was correct in his assumption that Fox would lead to the demise of the family. However, it was not Fox's birth that lead to the family's demise; it was his 'death.'

After the civil war began, Lupus and his wife went into hiding as everyone in the family slowly killed each other off. When the fighting was over, the couple searched for their child, but they had no idea that he he had drifted to Vale and had been taken into the care of a monk.

Fox grew up without knowing who his family was, but when he became old enough, he searched for them. Only to find stories about how a blind baby caused the downfall of the Alistar family. He knew it had to be him, after all he would never know the difference otherwise, considering he was blind.

It was nine months ago when he found out, nine months ago that he gave up at trying to be a person and committed himself solely to becoming a warrior. Now he held himself without any connection with the living world. In all aspects of the word, he was dead. They say the way your eyes look defines your personality, and his eyes fit him well; empty. He had no spirit, even though he had a soul. His eyes were lifeless, just like the creatures he fought. And that was what made him alive: the fact that even though his existence was an empty one without any family or friends, he still pushed on and fought against the odds.

Even now he pushed against the odds. Glynda Goodwitch had stated that his chance of success with his impediment was so low that he shouldn't even be considered for the exam. However, Professor Ozpin had believed in him and he allowed Fox to participate in this test. Glynda and Ozpin watched as Ozpin's hunch proved correct, as it usually did.

Fox moved at a fast pace. He didn't make use of acrobatics or flight to navigate: he was running on foot and using pure instinct. It wasn't leading him astray. The wind moved around the trees in such a way that his extra sensitive skin could feel the current alerting him of oncoming trees. Whenever a tree was close, he pushed off of it with his hand and dodged to the side. There was no way for Fox to locate the temple, yet he was currently on the correct path to reach it. Possibly before the other contestants.

On top of feeling wind currents, Fox was also listening for rustling and twigs cracking. Sounds like those would indicate a predator or another contestant. He hoped a partner would find him or vice versa, but he wasn't going to seek one out, nor would he fret if he didn't have one by the end of the test. His skills were being tested right now, this was not the place for him to be cared for by some softhearted person. He wasn't about to be treated like a useless fighter, he could hold his own against any one of the contestants here today and he knew it. If he was going to have a teammate, they just better not treat him like a weakness or feel inclined to help him. That would get on his nerves real quick.

A large, probably 4 foot thick, oak tree made its presence known to Fox, when he realized how large it was he knew he had to walk around it rather than dodge it. Slowly he felt around the tree. The feel of the bark was coarse and slightly cool. His fingers traced the indents in the tree until they came to something soft. It felt like lace or perhaps a plant of some kind. Upon feeling the frilly material he realized it emitted an aroma in addition to being soft. A flower. That was what he felt, some kind of herb or flower. He leaned in and smelled the scent of the flower. It gave off this powerful almost energizing fragrance, mixed with a hint of sweetness.

"You like it? I made it myself, I call it Coco's Number 5," a girl's voice broke the silence and caused Fox to step backwards. The girl in front of him moved closer and put a hand on his shoulder. She paused for a moment and looked into his eyes. After a moment of moving her finger in front of his face without his pale pupils following, she realized his condition.

"You're blind, aren't you?" she asked. Oh, he could see it now, the scene that was about to unfold. First the sympathy:'"Oh, you poor thing! I could never imagine what it's like to be blind! It must be so horrible.' Then next was a healthy dose of 'you shouldn't stay here, it's not safe, you'll get hurt!' And finally they would say 'I'll help you get out of here, don't worry, _I'll protect you!_ '

Fox nodded slowly. The girl shrugged, Fox didn't notice, obviously. He was still expecting one of the replies he had worked out in his head.

"Well, at least you're not weak like me… I think we'll make a good team. I'll aim, you shoot. What do you think?" Great… she was mocking him. Perfect. Fox didn't really care what else she had to say, and just walked off. Coco huffed and walked after him. He could only tell she was still behind him by the smell of her custom perfume and… were those high heels he heard? Who wore high heels to an exam? Fox just shook his head. What a mess… A sassy teammate with high heels and perfume as his partner.

"Why are you shaking your head?" she asked trying to find a way to make him talk. Fox just shook his head again, more pronounced this time. Coco grumbled.

"You know I was being sincere!" she shouted. Fox took a deep breath and sighed. He turned around and 'looked' at her with a face that said, _oh really_?

"I was. When I was in school, my teachers would always say one thing to me, over and over again: 'You're so smart, Coco. You've got so much potential.' At first that was nice to hear. When I was beginning, it was encouragement that I would one day reach my goal. Then one day… I realized that I was getting close to graduating and that, soon, I would come here. People would compliment my looks and my tactics, but I never could do anything involving strength… I'm weak. I can barely even hold my purse."

Fox walked forward, trying to pinpoint where Coco was. As soon as he got close enough to her to reach out and grab her shoulder, or what he thought was her shoulder, at least, he stopped and shook his head.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, with a questioning look in her eyes, although that was unnecessary due to his apparent blindness. He was silent. After a moment of intense staring, he released her shoulders. It would have probably been terrifying to have someone with white, soulless eyes stare you down, had he actually looked in her eyes and not at her forehead. He moved away from her and off towards the forest. As he moved a few feet away from her, she began to get irritated by his silence and followed after him.

"Why aren't you answering me?" Coco asked. Her irritation flared again when Fox, again, remained silent. Fox felt inner irritation at her constant questions. He wore the face of someone who was incredibly cross. He slowly turned around and glared at Coco as if to say "can you just shut up and head towards the temple…" This only furthered Coco's vexation.

"What is that face for!?" she shouted.

Silence.

"Fine! I won't talk to you either." She turned away from Fox. Fox, having sensed her do this, advanced toward her and examined her to see which way she was facing. After this was determined, Fox circled around her until he was generally in front of her. He made angry motions with his hands, motions unfamiliar to Coco. Coco looked unamused by this, which was unbeknownst to Fox. He continued to make gestures such as these for a good minute before Coco realized what he was doing.

"Oh…" murmured Coco, "I'm an idiot! I didn't—" Fox stopped her in her tracks as he turned to face a sound he heard by raising his hand in a fist. Coco, having not heard the sound, suddenly felt unsafe. Every rustling of a bush, whistling of the wind, chirp of a cicada, frightened her as her paranoia grew more and more extreme. She started, "What is it?" Fox raised his hand in the same gesture as he did earlier, signaling for her to be quiet. Fox heard a group of _somethings_ coming closer to their location. He motioned to Coco to come closer to him, and he spelled out, in sign language, 'Grimm.' This warning was not understood, as Coco did not know sign language. She reflexively replied with a loud, sharp, "What?" That annoyed Fox, so he turned to face her and quickly put his finger up to his mouth, signaling to be quiet. Coco nodded, and Fox readied his weapons. He pointed to Coco and pointed to his elbow blades, attempting to tell her to ready her weapon as well. Coco whispered to Fox, "What?" After a moment she realized what he meant.

"Oh. I'm ready." The hushed reply from Coco made Fox feel slightly more prepared for whatever was coming their way. Slightly... Said whatevers were getting closer. Starting to get too close. Fox got into a low, crouched position, allowing him to get a faster start to his attack than his 'opponents.' He signaled a countdown to Coco with his fingers, starting at 5. Fox's instinct and timing were spot on. As Fox closed his fist from a one to zero, five creatures of Grimm shot out of the forest. The creatures resembled wolves, one slightly bigger than the rest of them bearing large bone protrusions all over its body. Fox could feel how the wind wrapped around them.

He gripped his fingers deep into the dirt and rocketed forwards with incredible power and speed. He let his fist soar ahead of him and land a punch square into the stomach of a Beowulf, its location compromised Fox fired a uppercut straight into the creature's jaw. The Grimm fell backwards and Fox accelerated 10 feet into the air. The wolf rebounded and sliced upwards at Fox. The rushing air again gave this wolf's position away and Fox narrowed his sights. He wound his arms as the Beowulf sliced upwards at him, it got inches from hitting him before he unleashed his tensed muscles and spun his blades down the arm of the creature ending at its hip. He skid from the velocity and readied his arms in a fighting stance. Coco wasn't sure what to do and began to quickly formulate a strategy. That was when she noticed one crawling towards him from behind.

"Jump!" Coco ordered. He didn't hesitate to oblige and launched himself just above the Grimm. Gravity pulled him back down towards the jaws of the beast. His foot collided with the monster's face and pushed it down with an echoing crack. Fox somersaulted and land a few feet away from the Grimm he had just dodged. The creature lunged at him, its front bone plate cracked and its eyes red with anger. The claws of the beast came down in quick slashes, Fox raised his arms and used the metal edge of his weapon to glide his way into the creature's weak spot. He punched the side of its face and then used his other arm to slice at its neck. The motion spun him around and he barraged the center of the creature's chest with punches. One, two, three, the beast fell over dead. Another Grimm charged at him and he heard its roar. The best way to dodge was backwards so he threw his body backwards and backflipped away from the creature. He landed and dug his nails into the dirt once more before running straight at 3 of the things. One of which being the Alpha.

Coco had climbed up into a tree to get a good firing position. From this angle the recoil would do nothing to her so she unleashed at the Alpha getting its attention away from Fox. It turned and began to run towards her. The two that were in front of Fox made their presence know. He knew that he couldn't match them in hand eye coordination so he decided to take out their mobility. When he heard the sound of their claws slicing in the air he hit the ground and spun into a dropkick. He then pushed his arm off the ground and spun his foot into one of the Grimm he had knocked over. He landed a few feet from where he was moments before and braced his weapons into an X shaped block. The creature began to unleash a torrent of punches and slashes at his weapons. Coco noticed and fired off a few rounds, one of which hit the creature in the eye. It moved back from Fox distracted. He undid his block and jabbed the blade of his weapon into the creature's back, running the blade from left to right.

The Alpha had reached Coco's tree and hit it with all of its might. The oak began to topple backwards and the roots began to crack. Fox's ears twitched at the sound of this and he ran towards the inevitable catastrophe. He skidd on his knees to where he thought Coco would fall and reached out. Coco fell in such a way that she fell downwards and into Fox's arms. After he felt her land he pushed up on his legs and ended up in a standing position. Coco fired at the oncoming creature, her aim shaky and badly aimed, but surprisingly accurate. The creature actually held up its hand to block the bullets. Coco glanced over at Fox and realized he wasn't doing anything.

"Eleven o'clock," she shouted over the gunfire. He nodded and ran towards the creature but realized he overshot when the sound of bullets hitting bone got quieter. He turned one hundred and eighty degrees and dashed at the sound of the bullets which stopped when he reached the beast. His hand found a spike and he pulled with all his might. The force of his grab sent the creature forwards and Fox upwards. His feet found their way to the Grimm's shoulder. He pushed off of the boney shoulder pad and ripped the bone spike out of the beast with a loud crack. The creature roared in pain. Fox used the sound as a reticle and threw the spike towards straight into the creatures nape. He readied himself and as he fell slammed his palm into the creatures embedded spike. The force of the jabb caused the creature to rapidly swell and eventually burst, sending Grimm goo all over him and Coco. The force of the explosion knocked Coco off her feet. She grumbled as she tried to pull herself to her feet, stumbling in dead Grimm.

Fox reached down to help her up.

"Thanks, I'm sorry I was so mean earlier, I guess I was just confused. So, would you be up for starting over?"

He nodded; he would have apologized to her also, but obviously she couldn't read sign language so he planned to do that later.

"Well then, we should get going... um… I just realized I don't know your name." Fox nodded in agreement. He tried to think of a way to communicate to her so she could understand. Then it occurred to him: numbers! He could use the numbers one through twenty-six to communicate the letters of his name. He put up six fingers, and hoped Coco would understand. Coco glanced at his hand and thought what could have to do with his…

"F?" said Coco, in a questioning manner. Fox nodded his head. Fox put up his hands, extending all ten digits, retracting them, then quickly putting up five more. Coco stood blank. Fox repeated the action, holding the gestures longer. "F-O," said Coco. Fox nodded again. Fox continued to spell his name, putting up his hands twice with all of his digits extended, and once with only four. As Coco interpreted this, she said to Fox, "We are going to have to get a better way of communicating, Fox." Fox nodded his head.

Coco lead the way with a snap of her finger, "We better keep going, or else we won't make it to the temple in time." Fox followed close behind as the two walked off into the dense forest. Their journey had finally begun.


	6. Message to readers

I'm not sure if people are enjoying this story or not, probably not judging by the fact I upload on a much slower pace now. I just thought it was nessicary to inform you guys about why I can't upload. I have been sick twice since chapter 3 and I got really flustered dealing with team CFVY also right before I was going to work on the story again my parents took me on a suprise trip to boston. So, yeah... I've been busy for reasons I wish I wasn't. Sorry...

I should also inform you that june 25 is the last day I'll be here before I go away for 4 weeks. At wich point I wont be uploading. Unless I mannage to make chapters at double the rate. As allways thanks for reading and I hope this fic will continue to grow in the coming weeks.


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